jdhmnovel Chapter 224 Zhuge Liang presses relentlessly, Sima Yi has nowhere to retreat
Chapter 224 Zhuge Liang presses relentlessly, Sima Yi has nowhere to retreat
Zhang Fei was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes, and he held Zhao Yun tightly, unwilling to let go.
too difficult!
The road from Wuzhangyuan to Jieting was incredibly difficult. Zhang Fei had fought for decades and had never experienced anything so thrilling. Even now, thinking back on it, he felt a chill run down his spine.
That damned Wei Yan is insane! He actually came up with this plan—to stand in front of the Asura Palace and curse the King of Hell—and the worst part is he was brain-dead and agreed to it. Seriously...
Zhang Fei asked himself if he would have the courage to make the choice again.
Fortunately, it was finally over, and the army arrived at Jieting safely. Moreover, the strategist Zhuge Liang was very helpful, managing to get Zhao Yun to come and meet them. The strategist is truly a genius.
Thinking of the thrills and dangers along the way, Zhang Fei felt a sense of relief, as if he had survived a disaster. Looking at Zhao Yun's familiar face, he felt an unprecedented sense of closeness. Ignoring the bloodstains all over Zhao Yun, he held onto him tightly, refusing to let go, afraid that if he let go, he would be horrified to find that it was all a dream.
Zhao Yun, however, failed to grasp his feelings and pushed him away with disdain, saying, "Let's talk business first. Have your men take over Jieting quickly, and then prepare for the next step."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei snapped out of his daze, wiped away his tears of excitement, and turned around to say, "Gongheng, lead the troops to gather the surrendered soldiers and take over Jieting. Fan Jiang, please work a little harder and transport the supplies from the main camp outside the city into Jieting overnight. At the same time, send a fast horse to Dazhen Pass to inform Wei Yan to retreat."
When he entered the Longshan Road that day, his order to Wei Yan was to defend Dazhen Pass for fifteen days. Now, although the deadline has not yet passed, he has captured Jieting. With Jieting, there is no need to defend Dazhen Pass anymore.
With Zhang Fei's command, the Han army outside the city quickly poured into Jieting. Seeing this, the Wei army lost all will to fight, some surrendered and some fled, and the city was in complete chaos.
Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and others split up and, just as dawn broke in the east, completely took control of Jieting, completing the task of gathering the surrendered soldiers and counting the captured supplies.
Zhang Fei beckoned Zhao Yun, Huang Quan, and others to his side, grinning broadly and beaming with delight, "This battle has yielded over four thousand surrendered soldiers, captured tens of thousands of bushels of grain and over fifty thousand arrows. The harvest is too rich! Robbery is indeed the fastest way to make money."
Zhang Fei didn't carry much food, so he was always worried about supplies while he was stuck on the Longshan Road. Now, all his worries are gone.
Huang Quan was equally excited, saying, "The grain and supplies are nothing compared to the fact that we've captured Jieting. Jieting is the most important transportation route between Yong and Liang, and it's also a vital fortress guarding Liangzhou. As long as we hold Jieting, the entire Liangzhou will be ours."
That's true, because the only way for the Wei army to recapture Liangzhou was through Jieting. As long as Jieting was held, the Wei army would not be able to enter Liangzhou.
Zhang Fei excitedly slapped his thigh and said, "That's right! We have now secured the vital passage to Liangzhou. As long as we defeat Zhang He, Liangzhou will be completely under Liu's control. But I wonder how things are going with the strategist?"
"Zilong, I still have eight hundred cavalrymen under my command. You will lead them first and I will follow. Gongheng, you will stay and guard Jieting as the strategist ordered. Strengthen the Jieting defense line before the Wei army arrives. After Wenchang returns, have him defend it with you."
Jieting had fallen into disrepair and could not withstand major battles. If Jieting was to be used to block the Wei army from Guanzhong, the fortifications had to be rebuilt and Jieting transformed into a strong fortress comparable to Tongguan. Therefore, Huang Quan had a heavy task.
Zhao Yun was concerned about the battle situation on Wang Ping's side, so he didn't mince words and said directly, "Alright, I'll pack up and then lead the cavalry to set off."
After saying that, he pulled Jiang Wei over and introduced him, saying, "This is my apprentice, Jiang Wei, also known as Jiang Boyue. He is a local from Tianshui County. You have already met him and are quite familiar with him. Let him stay by your side and guide you."
That's right, Jiang Wei is now acting as a guide.
"I was wondering why this kid was so friendly; turns out he's your apprentice."
While praising him, Zhang Fei searched his body, but after a long time he couldn't find anything. He reached out and pulled off the jade pendant from Huang Quan's waist, handed it to Jiang Wei, and said with a smile, "Here, this is a gift from your uncle."
Jiang Wei glanced at Zhao Yun, and only after Zhao Yun nodded did he accept the jade pendant with both hands, bowing and saying, "Thank you, Uncle Yide."
The three generals smoothly became Uncle Yide, and the relationship between the two sides instantly became much closer, which made Huang Quan very angry.
If you gave me my jade pendant, what should I give you in return?
Huang Quan rolled his eyes, took out a jewel-encrusted dagger from his pocket, handed it to Jiang Wei, and said with a smile, "Take it."
Jiang Wei glanced at Zhao Yun again, then happily accepted the gift and politely bowed, saying, "Thank you, Uncle Heng."
Zhao Yun patted Jiang Wei on the shoulder and turned to leave. Halfway there, he suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask, "I heard from the prisoners that the kid I knocked unconscious is Zhang He's son. What do you plan to do with him?"
Zhang Fei said, "Let Gongheng handle it. Put him in the same place as Hao Zhaoguan, and we'll bring Zhang He here later so that father and son can be reunited."
Upon learning that Huang Quan was in charge of guarding the prisoners, Zhao Yun felt relieved and turned to leave. Half an hour later, he led eight hundred cavalrymen to Baliwan.
Zhang Fei, however, did not rush to set off. He had a meal at Jieting and took a nap before leading 10,000 troops out of the city and heading south at noon.
After the two left, only Huang Quan remained in Jieting. Huang Quan ordered his men to cut down trees and dig trenches while he went out of the city to survey the terrain, preparing to rebuild the city walls and make Jieting an insurmountable barrier for the Wei army in Guanzhong.
……
The Han army camp was located in the valley.
At dawn, Zhuge Liang got up and ordered the army to cook. Now that the game was out in the open and there was no need to hide it, he naturally couldn't let the soldiers eat dry rations anymore. They should at least have something hot to eat.
After breakfast, Zhuge Liang led his army out, maintaining the same defensive formation and advancing at a snail's pace as yesterday.
With yesterday's experience, the speed was much faster today. In just three hours, they advanced six or seven li, and were only about three li away from the bottom of the Xianhe Valley where the Wei army was located and the border of Baliwan.
At such a short distance, they were practically right in front of the Wei army. Naturally, the Wei army would not let them advance any further. Sima Yi dispatched several thousand Wei cavalry to attack from multiple directions simultaneously, constantly harassing them and forcing Zhuge Liang to stop in place, regardless of the cost.
Three li is only a little over a thousand meters, a distance at which they can see each other. Sima Yi stood on the hillside, gazing at the Shu army camp that resembled a tortoise shell, his face more gloomy than ever before.
That damned Zhuge Liang has turned the camp into a hedgehog's den, giving me no chance to make a move and forcing me to retreat step by step.
He originally planned to retreat completely into Baliwan, and then use the terrain of Baliwan to block the retreat layer by layer, taking turns to cover the retreat. However, there was a prerequisite for doing so: he had to defeat the Shu army blocking forces behind him and open up the road to Jieting.
However, the attack on the Shu army's blocking force did not go smoothly. Zhang He sent back news that he had encountered a formidable enemy, a man named Wang Ping, who had defended the line like an iron barrel. He attacked fiercely all night but could not break through it.
Upon receiving this devastating news, Sima Yi felt a chill in his heart and couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Damn Xu Huang, you really know how to cause me trouble."
He had also participated in the Battle of Hanzhong and knew about the mess between Xu Huang and Wang Ping. If it weren't for Xu Huang, Wang Ping would still be a general of Wei. How could he possibly have gone to Dawanchuan to block his own retreat?
However, if we don't have Wang Ping, we have Zhao Ping and Li Ping. The Shu army has many generals, so why are we afraid of not being able to find someone to block the road?
Sima Yi shook his head to clear his mind of these chaotic thoughts and began to think of a way to break the deadlock. After a moment of thought, he decisively abandoned the idea of retreating to Baliwan.
As mentioned earlier, the prerequisite for retreating into Baliwan was to defeat the Shu army's blocking force. Otherwise, with their retreat route blocked by the Shu army, their room for maneuver would shrink the further they retreated, and if they actually retreated into Baliwan, they would be completely surrounded by the Shu army.
How to do how to do?
Sima Yi racked his brains for a long time but couldn't come up with a good solution. He could only pin his hopes on Xiahou Ba, hoping that Xiahou Ba could arrive in time and join forces with Zhang He to attack Wang Ping from both sides and open up a retreat route.
But even with them attacking from both sides, they couldn't break through.
There was no other way but to fight the Shu army to the death here. As soon as the fighting started, Cao Zhen, who was hiding in Ji County, could attack the Shu army camp in Shehu Valley and destroy their supplies...
Wait, something's not right...
Sima Yi's expression changed drastically upon realizing something, and he hurriedly ordered his men, "Immediately send a fast horse to inform General Cao Zhen to abandon his plan to launch a surprise attack on Shehu Valley."